The present invention relates to the purification of ethyl tetrahydrofurfuryl ether (ETFE) from mixtures thereof with tetrahydrofurfuryl alcohol (THFA) and ethanol such as are formed by reaction of THFA, ethyl chloride and sodium hydroxide or sodium.
Processes to produce ETFE from THFA involving THFA have been described and generally result in a crude product including ETFE, THFA, ethanol and frequently also an ethyl halide such as ethyl chloride. Attempts to distill the mixture to produce high quality, dry ETFE have failed to produce high quality material suitable for refrigeration applications even though ETFE and THFA differ in their boiling points by 21.degree. C., and ethanol and ETFE differ in their boiling points by 79.degree. C.
Accordingly, the present invention is designed to purify ETFE of THFA and ethanol. It should be understood that other impurities such as ethyl halide and water can be removed later by distillation or other means.